The taming of the shrew and the Proposal are under spotlight!
In the last few hundred years marriage has become an important social title. Marriage is defined by two partners that have a civil union that is usually recognized by law. Back in the day love wasn't stated and made legal by the government it was just a mutual bond between two lovers, but most recently it has become a civil issue because people have been abusing the title of being married and using it to their advantage.
In the play Taming of The Shrew by William Shakespeare a man who is seeking wealth goes after a woman with all the wealth that he wants, he doesn't go after for love but for his love of her money. He abuses the title of marriage and gets the wealth that he wants, in a similar story The Proposal about two coworker get married so someone doesn't get asked to be deported back home. The text shows that marriage in the current era is more about a title than anything else, the title of married may define extreme lovers or mutually bonded partners but the most important thing now is that it has legal implications and people can abuse marriage to get what they want.
PETRUCHIO: Signor Hortensio, ‘twixt such friends as we Few words suffice; and therefore, if thou know One rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife— As wealth is burden of my wooing dance— Be she as foul as was Florentius’ love, As old as Sibyl, and as curst and shrewd As Socrates’ Xanthippe or a worse, She moves me not—or not removes at least Affection’s edge in me, were she as rough As are the swelling Adriatic seas. I come to wive it wealthily in Padua; If wealthily, then happily in Padua. (I.ii.62–73)
In this scene the men in the play talk about what they want out of their marriages, in Petruchios case he says that ge wants wealth and fortune. He goes on to say that he doesn't care about anything else in the following paragraphs saying that he doesn't mind that shrew. Later on he goes on to say that he has been through war so there should be no issues tolerating Katherines behavior. Hortensio believes that Katherine is not a good match for him because he doesn't understand the purpose of marriage and that he is just abusing her for her purse.
In both of the stories The Taming of The Shrew and The Proposal there is abuse of marriage itself going on, marriage is supposed to be about two people that already are in love with each other. In both these stories that is not the case after all they are romantic comedies. What is present in both of these stories is the abuse of marriage to get what one needs or wants. In the taming of the shrew there was one character that was abusing marriage to get what he wanted which was money. On the other hand in the proposal it was a joint effort and on one hand the man was in love with the woman but knew she was going to use him so she wouldn’t be deported. In both these stories they both get married for the wrong reason, to abuse the way marriage has been set up and to get what one wants in this case money or a green card.
KATHERINE:
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee, And for thy maintenance commits his body To painful labour both by sea and land, To watch the night in storms, the day in cold, Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe, And craves no other tribute at thy hands But love, fair looks, and true obedience, Too little payment for so great a debt.
. . .
My mind hath been as big as one of yours, My heart as great, my reason haply more, To bandy word for word and frown for frown; But now I see our lances are but straws, Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare, That seeming to be most which we indeed least are. Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot, And place your hands below your husband’s foot, In token of which duty, if he please, My hand is ready, may it do him ease. (V.ii.140–183)
In the last scene of Shrew Petruchio is playing a sick game with the men about tolerance of their wives seeing whose wife would be tolerable of their husbands. All the readers expect that she would not tolerate Petuchio and he would lose the bet, but she did. She came out with a long speech about how she should respect her husband and care for her husband. This is the turning point in the story where the woman decides the fate of the marriage.
In both the stories there was a point where the story changes and the person decided if they are going to allow the abusive behavior or stop the abusive behavior. In the Shrew both women characters decided what the fate of the marriage was going to be. Sandra Bullocks Character decides that she doesn’t want to allow her behavior to go on and decides that she can’t go on to hurt the person that she is falling for. All these decisions were driven by the time that was spent at her fiancé’s parent’s house where his parents pampered the groom and did special traditions to celebrate the marriage. All this was too much and she decided that it wasn’t worth hurting him, in the scene that is picked for describing this behavior is when her fiancé’s grandma gives a special necklace to Sandra bullock and she couldn’t accept it starting to cry. A similar event happened in The Taming of the Shrew, where even though the result was different the end result decided the fate of the marriage. In the shrew the men are playing a twisted game where they see whose wife is more obedient and no wife listens to their husband except Kathrine, she goes on to make a long speech that describes how she feels and depicts her true love for Petruchio, basically saying that she loves Peturchio and Petruchio is the one that she loves and will spend her life with so she must respect and allow him to do what he wants. She calls him her lord, and makes it very clear which way she wants the fate of the marriage to end.
PETRUCHIO Why, there's a wench! Come on, and kiss me, Kate. LUCENTIO Well, go thy ways, old lad; for thou shalt ha't. VINCENTIO 'Tis a good hearing when children are toward. LUCENTIO But a harsh hearing when women are froward. PETRUCHIO Come, Kate, we'll to bed. We three are married, but you two are sped. To LUCENTIO 'Twas I won the wager, though you hit the white; And, being a winner, God give you good night! Exeunt PETRUCHIO and KATHARINE
After the speech Petruchio wins the bet and he asks Kate to kiss him again. They kiss an everything goes on happily ever after like a true romantic story. This scene shows that Petruchio the abuser got away with what he wanted and in the end it wasn't money he cared about but one might think its love?
This scene is what makes the two stories of The Taming of The Shrew and The Proposal so similar. In both of these scenes the characters give in and are overcome by their love for this person that the abuse doesn't matter. In the shrew the woman gives in and Kathrine may or may not know about the abuse that’s going on but she has fallen into the trap that was set and falls for Petruchio. On the other hand in the proposal Sandra Bullocks Character falls for the man that she had set out to use so immigration police would not take her away. In the end they both forget about the abuse that was going on and fell in love. Even though these are both romantic comedies these stories both tell the viewer a thing or two about society, the most visible idea is that abuse can happen and in the end people can get away with it, which is proved by both these scenes, these stories both have romantic love as the force that allows the people to overcome the abusive behavior of the title marriage.
Marriage has been about love until now!
The taming of the shrew and the Proposal are under spotlight!
In the last few hundred years marriage has become an important social title. Marriage is defined by two partners that have a civil union that is usually recognized by law. Back in the day love wasn't stated and made legal by the government it was just a mutual bond between two lovers, but most recently it has become a civil issue because people have been abusing the title of being married and using it to their advantage.
In the play Taming of The Shrew by William Shakespeare a man who is seeking wealth goes after a woman with all the wealth that he wants, he doesn't go after for love but for his love of her money. He abuses the title of marriage and gets the wealth that he wants, in a similar story The Proposal about two coworker get married so someone doesn't get asked to be deported back home. The text shows that marriage in the current era is more about a title than anything else, the title of married may define extreme lovers or mutually bonded partners but the most important thing now is that it has legal implications and people can abuse marriage to get what they want.
PETRUCHIO:
Signor Hortensio, ‘twixt such friends as we
Few words suffice; and therefore, if thou know
One rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife—
As wealth is burden of my wooing dance—
Be she as foul as was Florentius’ love,
As old as Sibyl, and as curst and shrewd
As Socrates’ Xanthippe or a worse,
She moves me not—or not removes at least
Affection’s edge in me, were she as rough
As are the swelling Adriatic seas.
I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;
If wealthily, then happily in Padua.
(I.ii.62–73)
In this scene the men in the play talk about what they want out of their marriages, in Petruchios case he says that ge wants wealth and fortune. He goes on to say that he doesn't care about anything else in the following paragraphs saying that he doesn't mind that shrew. Later on he goes on to say that he has been through war so there should be no issues tolerating Katherines behavior. Hortensio believes that Katherine is not a good match for him because he doesn't understand the purpose of marriage and that he is just abusing her for her purse.
In both of the stories The Taming of The Shrew and The Proposal there is abuse of marriage itself going on, marriage is supposed to be about two people that already are in love with each other. In both these stories that is not the case after all they are romantic comedies. What is present in both of these stories is the abuse of marriage to get what one needs or wants. In the taming of the shrew there was one character that was abusing marriage to get what he wanted which was money. On the other hand in the proposal it was a joint effort and on one hand the man was in love with the woman but knew she was going to use him so she wouldn’t be deported. In both these stories they both get married for the wrong reason, to abuse the way marriage has been set up and to get what one wants in this case money or a green card.
KATHERINE:
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance commits his body
To painful labour both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe,
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks, and true obedience,
Too little payment for so great a debt.
. . .
My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great, my reason haply more,
To bandy word for word and frown for frown;
But now I see our lances are but straws,
Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,
That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,
And place your hands below your husband’s foot,
In token of which duty, if he please,
My hand is ready, may it do him ease.
(V.ii.140–183)
In the last scene of Shrew Petruchio is playing a sick game with the men about tolerance of their wives seeing whose wife would be tolerable of their husbands. All the readers expect that she would not tolerate Petuchio and he would lose the bet, but she did. She came out with a long speech about how she should respect her husband and care for her husband. This is the turning point in the story where the woman decides the fate of the marriage.
In both the stories there was a point where the story changes and the person decided if they are going to allow the abusive behavior or stop the abusive behavior. In the Shrew both women characters decided what the fate of the marriage was going to be. Sandra Bullocks Character decides that she doesn’t want to allow her behavior to go on and decides that she can’t go on to hurt the person that she is falling for. All these decisions were driven by the time that was spent at her fiancé’s parent’s house where his parents pampered the groom and did special traditions to celebrate the marriage. All this was too much and she decided that it wasn’t worth hurting him, in the scene that is picked for describing this behavior is when her fiancé’s grandma gives a special necklace to Sandra bullock and she couldn’t accept it starting to cry. A similar event happened in The Taming of the Shrew, where even though the result was different the end result decided the fate of the marriage. In the shrew the men are playing a twisted game where they see whose wife is more obedient and no wife listens to their husband except Kathrine, she goes on to make a long speech that describes how she feels and depicts her true love for Petruchio, basically saying that she loves Peturchio and Petruchio is the one that she loves and will spend her life with so she must respect and allow him to do what he wants. She calls him her lord, and makes it very clear which way she wants the fate of the marriage to end.
PETRUCHIO
Why, there's a wench! Come on, and kiss me, Kate.
LUCENTIO
Well, go thy ways, old lad; for thou shalt ha't.
VINCENTIO
'Tis a good hearing when children are toward.
LUCENTIO
But a harsh hearing when women are froward.
PETRUCHIO
Come, Kate, we'll to bed.
We three are married, but you two are sped.
To LUCENTIO
'Twas I won the wager, though you hit the white;
And, being a winner, God give you good night!
Exeunt PETRUCHIO and KATHARINE
After the speech Petruchio wins the bet and he asks Kate to kiss him again. They kiss an everything goes on happily ever after like a true romantic story. This scene shows that Petruchio the abuser got away with what he wanted and in the end it wasn't money he cared about but one might think its love?
This scene is what makes the two stories of The Taming of The Shrew and The Proposal so similar. In both of these scenes the characters give in and are overcome by their love for this person that the abuse doesn't matter. In the shrew the woman gives in and Kathrine may or may not know about the abuse that’s going on but she has fallen into the trap that was set and falls for Petruchio. On the other hand in the proposal Sandra Bullocks Character falls for the man that she had set out to use so immigration police would not take her away. In the end they both forget about the abuse that was going on and fell in love. Even though these are both romantic comedies these stories both tell the viewer a thing or two about society, the most visible idea is that abuse can happen and in the end people can get away with it, which is proved by both these scenes, these stories both have romantic love as the force that allows the people to overcome the abusive behavior of the title marriage.